Who is Captain Augustus Bedford from MASH and what is their importance? H._Richard_Hornberger English & Literature Captain Augustus Bedford | MASH

Augustus Bedford "Duke" Forrest, born in Forrest City, Georgia, is aged 29, just under 6 feet tall with red hair, blue eyes and a wife and two daughters. Forrest City, it is not explicitly claimed, is named for Nathan Bedford Forrest, the Confederate General and founder of the Ku Klux Klan. Duke has a strong Southern accent and is a good man and in fact gets along well with Spearchucker, a black man whose family his father helped, unbeknownst to Duke himself. Duke is a doctor trained in medicine in Atlanta and is among the most excellent doctors in the Army. Eventually he is made chief of surgery of the 4077th.